Back to the Beginning
by Wolffury
Summary: My interpretation of what the final after-credits scene of RWBY should be. Months after the war against Salem has ended, a familiar criminal mastermind is out for a leisurely stroll, and to rob a Dust store. Hopefully without a certain red-cloaked menace to stop him.


_**As much as we all love RWBY and want to see it go on, it will eventually have to come to an end. This short little story is what I would like the final after-credits scene to be. Which in my opinion is the perfect way for a story like RWBY to end.**_

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 **Back to the Beginning**

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 _When the villain has been defeated and the adventure is done, there is no place for the reader to go but back to page one._

It was a crisp night in the middle of spring. The fractured moon watched over the city, its pale beams of light streaking through the wispy clouds that veiled the orbiting mass from the planet below. A light breeze blew its way through the dark city streets, scattering loose pieces of litter on the sidewalks. The roadways carved their way through the mass of buildings while being faintly illuminated by the light from streetlamps. The only sign of life was the luminous glow from windows and store signs, along with the stray civilian out for a night of partying. The alleys between the towering buildings were silent, save for one.

The faint tapping of shoes against concrete echoed through the narrow passage as a group of five figures emerged onto the street. Three of them were clad in black with bright red ties and sunglasses. The fourth was the only woman in the group and stood at least two heads shorter than everyone else, her brown and pink hair cascading down past her shoulders. She was clad in a white jacket with pink lining that covered a brown corset-esque top and brown pants that led down to white and black boots. She blinked her eyes from dual brown to pink and brown as she twirled the black and pink umbrella that rested on her shoulder.

The fifth and final member of the group was a tall man with fiery orange hair that covered the right of his two green eyes. He was clad in a white overcoat with red lining as well as dark brown pants and shoes. Black gloves adorned his hands, each one held up by two small brown belts. In his hand was a weaponized black and red cane with a white handle. He wore a grey ascot around his neck and a feathered black bowler hat with red band atop his head.

Roman Torchwick. One of the most notorious criminal masterminds in all of Remnant. Thought to have been killed in the battle for Beacon eight years ago, he re-emerged shortly after the war against Salem and her army of Grimm had ended. Now it was the perfect time to take advantage of the new era of peace that was upon them. With everyone busy rebuilding the great cities around them, there was hardly time and resources to properly deal with criminals such as himself. The only thing he had to fear was the occasional traveling Huntsman that tried to keep things civil around Remnant.

Roman led the group down the street, their forms passing into the light of streetlamps before quickly disappearing into shadow. Sitting right in front of them was the only open Dust shop in this sector of the city. The damage from the war had made it difficult to open new stores in the city, and the demand for dust had given the owner of this singular store reason to remain open late into the night. But with barely anyone normally out this late, the open door might as well have a sign that reads, "Rob me".

Roman pushed the glass door open, not even bothering to read the sign above the store. His posse followed in behind him as he approached the counter where the store's owner was crouching down to reorganize some Dust crystals. Upon hearing potential customers entering his store, the man stood up to reveal a balding head with wild grey hair and bushy eyebrows. The man flinched as he seemed to recognize the criminal in front of him and Roman felt like there was something familiar about the store owner. He kept his composure though as his subordinates stepped in and one raised a gun to the man's head.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open _this late_? Or open _at all_ for that matter?"

The old man raised his hands in surrender and leaned back from the gun.

"Please, just take the Dust and leave."

Roman scrunched his eyebrows at the owner's statement, before remembering that he had become infamous for stealing Dust right before his supposed death. His mind first concluded that the old man remembered the news reports about him and recognized his mugshot. Once he thought harder though, he realized that this man looked just like the one he robbed eight years ago. The same night he first encountered a certain scythe wielding wannabe Huntress.

Huh. What are the odds?

"Calm down. We're not here for your Dust," he replied coolly. He then turned to two of his men, "Empty the register." Then a new thought popped into his head. "On second thought, grab some crystals along with the Lien."

With this being the only Dust shop in town people had to travel a fair distance to the next available Dust seller. This meant there might be a market for Dust while this place undoubtedly got closed down for investigation. Not to mention there might be a need amongst those of his underworld associates that could purchase it from a store. So might as well grab some crystals and see what extra Lien he could make off of them. Perhaps there was a decent profit to be made in the Dust business after all.

Within minutes the store's register and the small safe in the owner's office were empty. Roman's hired henchmen were carrying several small rucksacks filled with Lien and some Dust crystals. Neo was having fun dancing and skipping across the top of the shelves that made up the aisles. The store's owner was tied up behind the counter as Roman examined a particularly large Fire Dust crystal. With a tilt of his head, Roman signaled that it was time to leave. Neo jumped down from the shelves with a gleeful grin on her face, while the goons opened the door for him.

The group walked out of the store and back into the crisp air of the night. He adjusted his collar as the wind nipped at his neck. They proceeded down the dark abandoned streets in silence. They were about a block away from the store when the quiet was disturbed by the faint ringing of an alarm. Roman slowed his pace as he turned his head to look back in the direction of the store they had just robbed. It would seem its owner had found a way to escape his bindings and activate the store's alarm system. It was no matter though. The group of criminals would be long gone by the time the police arrived.

Roman led the group several blocks away with a confident smirk on his face. They had gotten in and out quickly, and he already knew where to stash the goods so the cops couldn't track them down. He had thought of every contingency.

All except for one that is.

The group of crooks stopped as something, or rather someone, dropped from the rooftops and onto the street in front of them. Someone who was draped in a cloak that was a familiar shade of red. The smirk disappeared from Roman's face as he watched the crouched figure's cloak lightly billow in the breeze, a few crimson red rose petals fluttering out from beneath it. Their soon to be assailant rose and lifted her head until her face was visible from beneath the rim of her red riding hood. Despite the scowl his eyebrows were set it, Roman couldn't help the amused smile that pulled at his cheeks as he stared into a pair of silver eyes that were framed by black hair with red tips. Of all the Huntsmen and Huntresses that he could have encountered tonight, it just had to be her.

Red, or Ruby Rose as he learned her name was later on, the hero of not only Vale but all of Remnant. He had first encountered her eight years ago when she decided to interfere with a Dust robbery he was running. From that point on she insisted on being a thorn in his side as he tried to complete the tasks given to him by his former boss, Cinder. She was the last person he saw before being swallowed whole by a Griffin, which was _not_ a pleasant experience. After surviving that dreadful event, he reconnected with Neo and they disappeared into the underground. There they bided their time as the war against Salem raged on in the world of Remnant. It was only after the war that he learned his former employers had been defeated by a certain red cloak wearing girl wielding a massive scythe.

After the two old rivals stared each other down for a few seconds, Ruby pulled out her weapon from behind her back. She twirled it around a few times as the staff and blade extended. She held the weapon in a backhanded form behind her back with her finger on the trigger. As her cloak fluttered in the wind, Roman noticed that her outfit had changed since they last met. Her once all black attire had been replaced by a white blouse beneath a black and red corset that transitioned into a black combat skirt. She wore heavy black boots with red soles on her feet and black leggings. He noted the black and red belt lined with dust bullets around her waist along with the black leather wrist guards and red fingerless gloves on her hands.

The three hired men dropped the rucksacks of stolen goods and pulled out extending blades from inside their jackets. Roman and Neo stayed behind as the three charged the fully grown Huntress. Ruby pulled the trigger of scythe which propelled her swing into one of the goons and sent him flying into a lamppost. As she spun the weapon around her body the curved blade deflected swings from the other goons, leaving one of them open to a sidekick to his gut. The kick connected and sent him crashing into the street. The third minion stumbled back from the deflection and looked up in time to see the barrel of a sniper rifle aimed at him. There was a loud bang as Ruby fired her rifle and launched a special non-lethal round into the goon's chest.

Roman rested his face in his palm and pinched the bridge of his nose as the hired henchman flew past him unconscious. Why was it so hard to find good underlings? It probably served him right for hiring more of Junior's men again. After all these years and everything that's happened, he thought the man would invest in better training for his lackeys.

Torchwick was brought out of his frustration as the Huntress spoke up.

"Well Torchwick, I'd say this is going to be an eventful evening."

Roman looked up to see Red looking at him with a playful smirk on her face and a hand on her hip as she held her scythe loosely at her side. He suppressed a chuckle as he remembered the similar words he had spoken to her at their first encounter. With a renewed smirk on his own face he looked over to Neo. The ice cream colored girl had her umbrella at the ready and an almost psychotic grin on her face as her eyes changed to brown and pink. Seeing that his partner-in-crime was ready to fight he turned back to respond to his old archrival.

"So it would seem Red," he replied playfully as he flipped Melodic Cudgel in his had so that he held it like a sword. He readied himself in a combat stance as Ruby did the same with her scythe. The two locked gazes with each other. Both of them with determined, but almost joyful expressions on their faces.

"And quite honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way."


End file.
